TWO men have been found guilty of hacking soldier Lee Rigby to death in a London street.

Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, murdered Fusilier Rigby by running him down in a car and then hacking him to death near Woolwich Barracks in south-east London on May 22.

The jury took just 90 minutes to reach a verdict.

They both denied murder and claimed that were are "soldiers of Allah", although the judge said that was not a sufficient legal defence.

The pair were also accused of the attempted murder of a police officer.

They were found not guilty of this charge.

The pair targeted the Afghanistan veteran as he was the first serviceman they saw as they waited in car near Woolwich Barracks, south London.

The pair claimed they were soldiers of Allah [PA]

Lee Rigby was brutally murdered by the two men [PA]

Drummer Rigby, 25, was wearing a Help For Heroes sweatshirt and was carrying a camouflage backpack.

As he crossed a road, the two men mowed him down in a Vauxhall Tigra and then attacked him with a meat cleaver and two kitchen knives.

Passers by rushed to help Rigby, but he died at the scene.

Adebolajo told the court that the killing was a "military operation".

"I'm a soldier. I'm a soldier of Allah," he said.

"I understand that some people might not recognise this because we do not wear fatigues and we do not go to the Brecon Beacons and train and this sort of thing. But we are still soldiers in the sight of Allah as a mujahid.

"I will never regret obeying the command of Allah. That is all I can say. I'm a mujahid, I'm a soldier, I'm doing what Allah commands me to do. I can't do anything else."

The defendant also claimed he loves al Qaeda because they were his "brothers of Islam".

Adebolajo asked members of the public to film him at the scene at Woolwich Barracks to "make it clear why the soldier lost his life"

Two weeks before the trial,his accomplice Adebowale appeared to become psychotic while in solitary confinement at Belmarsh prison and claimed that he was possessed or influenced by 'djinns' or spirits.

Despite his mental health problems, Adebowale was planning to give evidence in court but changed his mind.

However prosecutors said he was planing to use the same defence as Adebolajo.

His defence team also used his history of mental illness to prevent the prosecution using his police interview in the trial or make comments to the jury about his refusal to give evidence.

Adebowale admitted stabbing Lee Rigby in the torso three times and explained that he only stopped when he realised the soldier was dead.

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